Something I learned in Olympia during my 30 years of covering the Legislature has surfaced in this election.

Namely, no matter how good an idea is proposed, it often depends on who's doing the proposing whether it has a prayer of being considered. If you're on the outs with the movers and shakers or have offended one of the ensconced elite, forget it.

So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see some newspapers and individuals come out against the recently passed Initiative 900, authorizing the state auditor to do performance audits, i.e., assess the results of programs, rather than just determine whether the money is being spent according to law.

This is something the state auditor used to do until the Legislature took it away many years before Brian Sonntag was elected in 1992. Lawmakers think assessing performance is their job and worry about some future auditor sticking his nose where it isn't wanted.

So along comes Tim Eyman, the guy who got you the $30 car tab and lower property taxes, and announces on Election Night, 2004, that restoring the performance audit power to the state auditor will be his initiative for 2005.

Lawmakers tried to cut him off at the pass, enacting a bill authorizing the auditor to do performance audits of state agencies at the direction of a citizens advisory committee, members of whom were nominated by legislative leaders and appointed by the governor.

Eyman's I-900 lets the auditor do performance audits of any state and local governments in the executive, judicial and legislative branches. He, not a committee, will run the show.

At first, I-900 was considered so non-controversial it was expected to be a slam dunk on Nov. 8. Why shouldn't any and all government agencies be subject to being checked for effectiveness, rather than just those operated by the state?

Editorial writers were climbing on the I-900 bandwagon when a surprise opposition reared its head. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer urged a no vote on all the initiatives on the ballot because initiatives amounted to second guessing the legislature. Others said the bill passed by the Legislature was sufficient. Why the sudden chill on I-900? That's easy. The wrong guy sponsored it. Tim Eyman is anathema to the spenders at all levels of government and their supporters. Anybody else's name on that initiative would have guaranteed it a free ride.

If state lawmakers had done their job instead of ignoring the voice of the people year after year, Tim Eyman wouldn't be in their hair. Without him, we'd all still be paying $600 a year for our car tabs and property tax collections would still be going up six percent a year instead of being limited to one percent without a vote of the people.

As for the other measures on the ballot, I voted no on I-912, because the growth and improvement of our infrastructure hasn't kept up with the growth in traffic - not because of despite daily brainwashing we were getting from the media and public officials about what havoc it would wreak. I also voted no on the ban on smoking in restaurants, taverns and bowling alleys and within 25 feet of doorways of public buildings. I still am not sold on the dangers of secondhand smoke and I think private businesses should have the option just as their customers do in choosing where to go.

If Democrats hadn't stalled off medical tort reform at the behest of their buddies, the trial lawyers, doctors wouldn't have written I-330, limiting jury awards and attorney fees to reduce their outrageously high malpractice insurance, and the lawyers wouldn't have responded with I-336 revoking licenses of doctors with repeat offenses. I was with the doctors. I-330 may be imperfect but it's better than the status quo which is all they'll get from the legislature.

(Adele Ferguson can be reached at P.O. Box 69, Hansville, Wa., 98340.).